2024 Schloss Gobelsburg - Gruner Veltliner Ried Steinsetz (750ml)

Vines have grown on the land around Schloss Gobelsburg since the twelfth century, when monks from a local monastery first tended the site. Ownership passed through roughly nineteen families and estate holders over the following eight centuries before Michael Moosbrugger, guided by his mentor Willi Bründlmayer, took over the property in 1996 and shaped it into the estate it is today, now run together with his wife Eva.

Ried Steinsetz sits just outside the village of Gobelsburg on ground quite unlike the loess that typically hosts Grüner Veltliner in this part of Austria. The vineyard traces an old course of the Danube, leaving behind alluvial gravel studded with rounded quartzite stones and only a thin cap of loess above. That cooler, stonier setting gives the wine more snap and less weight than Gobelsburg's higher ranked Grüner Veltliners. Fermentation happens entirely with native yeasts in large Manhartsberg oak casks, where the wine rests for about ten months before bottling.

Aromas of moss and lichen meet green pear, lemon, and a spark of white pepper, carried on a slender frame with real salinity and a clean mineral finish. Serve it with grilled sea bass, a warm lentil salad, or fresh chèvre.